Nicolas Cadena

I went with three others on an 8 day cruise on the ship Archipel 1 over Christmas with the naturalist Christian. The boat was well-appointed, the food was excellent and the others cruising with us were all very pleasant. Angel did an outstanding job of remembering everyone's food likes and dislikes and kept bringing us our favorite foods. Carlos kept the cabins immaculately clean and the beds made well.
We snorkeled and hiked with Christian, who was very well-informed about the geology of the islands as well as the biology. Besides this type of trip, Christian runs diving excursions too.
The trip covered Genovesa in the north, Batholome and Santiago in the central along with Santa Cruz, Floreana and Espanola and finally San Cristobal in the East. If I'm ever fortunate enough to return, I'd very much like to see the western islands too.
The birds were fascinating, but I would have liked to do even more snorkeling than I did, so my suggestion to others is that they emphasize the snorkeling and come equipped with the ability to take underwater pictures and movies.
Nick was always punctual with replies and was outstanding to deal with. There were no hitches with the plans.
We stayed at the Wyndham Quito Hotel near the airport, and it's a very nice hotel with modern comfortable rooms and an excellent and delicious free breakfast buffet and a similarly excellent dinner buffet.

Karlita did a fabulous job planning our unforgettable trip to Ecuador and the Galapagos. She accommodated all our family group's interests and abilities (ages 30- 65+). I appreciate that she advised us thoughtfully and raised the right questions to help us make the right choices. For example, she worked with the local guide Sebastian in Quito to provide suggestions like flipping the order of certain activities to make more sense and allow us to fit more things in a logical way. Another example was how she had hotel rooms conveniently arranged for us on the day we returned from the Amazon, so we didn't have to hang around the airport for 12 hours until our international flights home from Quito. She did not simply say yes to everything we asked for without thinking - she genuinely guided us, which is what we needed. No detail was left unthought of! Including special surprises for the special occasions on the trip.

Highlights: The GO Hotel in Quito was amazing! We especially loved our guide in Quito, Sebastian. He is extremely knowledgable and passionate about Ecuador, plus personable, friendly and fun! We also loved the staff and our local guide Cheyanne at the NAPO Cultural Center eco-lodge. Overall, Karlita was able to fit such a diverse mix of activities and parts of Ecuador into our 15-day trip without it feeling totally exhausting.

My only point of feedback: We were probably limited by our budget and availability by the time we booked (last-minute), but the only thing I would have appreciated is being offered more tiered options / operator choices for the cruise in Galapagos and eco-lodge in the Amazon, so that we could have understood the differences and chosen to upgrade to something higher-end if we wanted.

Our trip planner is Karlita
I have nothing but praises for the planning and attention to detail for this trip to Ecuador. I have such great memories. It was a fantastic vacation! Thank you Karlita. You listened and delivered. You also told us when we suggested something and you said it was too much. The trip was a great combination of history and nature. Our guide Sebastian (in Quito) was absolutely amazing. He was knowledgeable, fun and loved to share his country’s history as well as personal. He took good care of my sisters when hiking in Antisana. He bought some local snacks for us so we could enjoy them along the drives.
In Galapagos I have no complaints about the crew, the activities or the guides. The cabins on Coral 1 are a little old and definitely use updating. A big complaint is that when the boat sailed during the night the noise from the engines was very loud in the cabins. We could not sleep. I think the ship can do something to mitigate the noise. Or for future planning we would request higher level cabins.
In the Amazon the Napo Culture Lodge was an amazing experience. I loved being in the community and watching the people. Our community guide Cheyenne was excellent - he knew the animals and spotted so many things for us.
Overall - Karlita thank you for putting together this amazing trip for us. I have no hesitation in recommending your company to my friends and family.
Thank you!

Karlita was absolutely wonderful to work with! She did a fantastic job planning this and working with us to help create an unforgettable and truly magical trip! From the get go she did a great job asking questions and listening to what we wanted and really got to know what kind of activities we would like as a family. We loved our guide in Quito, Sebastian, he was very knowledgeable and easy to work with. In the Galapagos, we saw great wildlife. The boat was quite loud and hard to sleep in the bottom area so in the future would prefer the option to have the top floor rooms but otherwise was a good experience. We ended in the Amazon and appreciated being at a lodge which was started by the community. Our local guide, Cheyenne, was fantastic and great at spotting animals and we saw a lot of incredible wildlife. We appreciated the care taken when planning and all the helpful information given in advance, especially about appropriate tipping amount as the amounts given by Karla were reasonable compared to the somewhat outrageous suggested tips given by the Galapagos. Finally, Karla went above and beyond in arranging little surprises for a family member birthday and anniversary which absolutely made our day! We had a great time and would definitely use Karla and team again for any other planned trips in the future! And will definitely recommend Karla and team to all our friends and family who are planning to visit.

Our trip to the Galápagos Islands was everything that we expected and more. Nicolas did an amazing job of answering my numerous questions. And I had a lot! The itinerary was well put together and followed like clockwork. It was great to know that we didn’t have to worry about any details.

Nicolas arranged special arrangements for us and was great to work with.

My husband and I loved our 10-day trip to Ecuador with Kimkim. Nick put together a great itinerary and was very patient with our many questions and changes. Once we arrived, Nick checked in periodically to make sure all was going smooth. And we had great experience with Sebastian, our local guide, who drove us between destinations, took us on tours/hikes, gave us tastes of local cuisine, had vast knowledge of the flora/fauna, culture and history of Ecuador, helped with translation, and generally made sure we were taken care of. We had never used a travel service, generally preferring to arrange our own travel, but we were very impressed with everything. And for our honeymoon, it was so nice to not have the extra stress of planning.

The planning of the trip with Nicholas to the entire experience in Ecuador exceeded all expectations. Nicholas was responsive and dedicated to be sure we had a wonderful trip even coming to welome us to his city and checking throughout the trip to be sure all was going well and making a change to our trip on the Gallapagos. The guide Sebastian, for the majority of our time in the Andes region, was fanastic. His compassion, his knowledge in so many areas, his dedication to point out and explain, his English, his joy of life and enthusiam, his patience, his driving ability was top notch. He was the BEST. Seeing so much like Quito, the equator museum, the cooking class, hiking to the base camp of Cotapaxi and staying at the Hacienda near the park there, Mindu and the chocolate factory, Otavala and the Hacienda there, Cocachi, Banos and the waterfalls were incredible. Staying at the Wyndham by the aiport and being able to enjoy their marvelous breakfast before our flight to the Yunisani Napa cultural center in the Amazon and the again from Gallopagos was convenient and top notch. Although each island in the Gallapogos had its own charm and beauty and all of the excursions and guides were amazing and superb my personal favorite hotel was the Cassa playa Mann in San Cristobal. The family owners Jose and Lucy and hammocks on the patio and the breakfast were great. Wilson our guide of the town and museum was enthusiastic to share his love for his island. In Santa Cruz Felipe our guide for Seymore island was great pointing out and telling so much about the plants and wildlife and our guide for the Darwin Center and El Chato tortoise reserve was a pleasure and made sure we enjoyed all parts including a great coffee at 1835 before we started. Having a liesure day and exploring Tortuuga Bay was so incredible and enjoying the pool at the hotel La Fiesta was wonderful , but realized their is still more to explore on this island. On San Isabel it was amazing to be staying right on the beach at the Albermarle and loved the quiet of the island. I think my favorite tour with guide Luis on Los Tuneles was one of my favorites. Luis took such care of every person on the tour and made sure that everyone saw the animals and then sent us pictures and videos he took. An amazing memory. Tintoreras and the Volcano were super tours as well and renting bikes to go the the Wall of Tears was a wonderful way to spend our last day seeing black marine iguanas, land tortoise, pink flamingos, sea lions, and many birds along the way. Thank you Nicholas for creating a unforgetable memory for us.

Hotel Reviews

Casa Playa Mann

Puerto Baquerizo Moreno

The decor and hospitality are superb of this family owned hotel. Lucy and Jose are great. The breakfast is good. The hammocks on the balcony in our room was awesome and relaxing overlooking the ocean. The beds are comfortable.

Authenticity & Character

Family owned and charming authenticity

Location

Though not right on the beach it is close and the view is great which made it perfect. Very close walk to a swimming beach.

Staff

Kindness, attentive, spoke great English,

Cleanliness & Comfort

Ikala Quito Hotel

Quito

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Review

Wildlife Encounter at Los Tuneles (Cabo Rosa)

Ecuador

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Luis the guide with Luis the captain and Eduardo the first mate were top notch. Luis made sure everyone got to see all the animals during the snorkel, and took some great pictures. Luis the captain cpuld really navigate the boat allowing us great views of the blue footed boobies on unity rock.

Transport